The present invention relates generally to improvements in apparatus for transporting structures to locations of use and more particularly, but not by way of limitation, to improvements in apparatus for transporting oil field storage tank batteries.
As discussed in my co-pending U.S. patent application, Ser. No. 052,605, the teachings of which are incorporated herein by reference, an oil well will generally produce salt water, as well as the oil and gas for which the well is drilled, and it is common practice to separate these three fluids at the site of the well. The gas is transmitted to a sales line for delivery to a consumer and the oil and salt water are temporarily stored in tanks for subsequent final disposition.
Prior to the invention of the mobile storage tank battery discussed in my co-pending application, there were a number of problems associated with this storage of oil and salt water. In particular, establishing a battery of tanks to store the oil and salt water was an expensive and time consuming operation that, moreover, had to be carried out before it could be known whether the well would produce oil and gas in paying quantities. If not, the expense of setting up a tank farm and its subsequent removal would be wasted.
The mobile storage tank battery of my co-pending application greatly reduces these expenses by providing a tank farm that can be easily transported, as a unit, to the site of an oil well and quickly emplaced using a small work crew. Additionally, should the well fail to produce sufficient quantities of oil and gas to justify continued production, my mobile storage tank battery can be removed from the well site and, after cleaning, transported to a different well site so that no loss in value of the battery is occasioned by the initial set up of the battery. Thus, my mobile storage tank battery has provided an important advance in oil field technology by minimizing the cost of setting up and removing tank farms from the sites of individual oil wells.
However, experience with my mobile storage tank battery has indicated that further savings can be obtained. In particular, the time that is required to emplace the tank farm and, at a later date, to remove it, can be further reduced to further limit the labor costs associated with these operations. The present invention provides a transport system which minimizes these times. In particular, the present invention eliminates a need to carefully position transporters which support the ends of the tank battery during road transport prior to emplacement of the tank battery or reattachment of the tank battery to the transporters.